


Tongue Tied

by Marasa



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Anxiety, Cute, Fluff, Japan, Japanese, M/M, Tour, josh learns japanese
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 14:37:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14620773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marasa/pseuds/Marasa
Summary: Josh is more than a little excited when Tyler mentions how they’ll be performing in Japan on tour.Or Josh has been learning Japanese for the past six months and Tyler has no idea.





	Tongue Tied

Josh has somewhat of an interest in learning languages.

He always makes an effort to learn a few phrases in every country’s native tongue that they visit on tour. In junior high, he learned a little Spanish. In high school, he took two semesters of French.

But nothing stuck as naturally as self-taught Japanese.

Mark recommends him some comedy show on Netflix with the disclaimer that it's in Japanese and he'll have to read subtitles. Josh is fine with the fact, never one to be annoyed by reading.

And as Josh watches on the couch, comfy and half-stoned, he decides he would seriously like to learn this language.

He genuinely likes the cadence and sound of every word. The culture is cool and the animation isn't that bad. And the food? Exquisite.

For six months, Josh studies on free apps before bed, watches a slew of informative videos online and actually sends pictures of simple sentences he's written in messy kanji for native speakers to correct.

So when Tyler mentions that they'll be performing in Japan on tour, Josh is more than a little excited.

He'll get to see the city and all the wonderful people, but more than that, he'll get to practice what he's learned in the very country he’s been studying for the past six months. 

Josh doesn’t mention any this to Tyler.

He instead talks about the food and how cool the pictures he’s seen of Tokyo are and Tyler seems excited because Josh is excited but there’s clear confusion on his face as he doesn't really understand the big deal.

“I didn’t know you wanted to go to Japan so bad, dude,” Tyler laughs.

Josh’s smile immediately falls from his face.

He’s suddenly shy, shrugging, looking to the ground.

“Oh, yeah, I guess,” he murmurs.

He dials back his overexcitement after that because he doesn't exactly want tell Tyler yet that he’s been studying Japanese.

In fact, Josh hasn't told anyone.

He isn't ashamed.

He's simply worried about embarrassing himself by making a mistake while speaking.

Josh has been seriously trying his best and maybe that's why he's so nervous.

He equates it with stage fright.

Drumming was at times nerve wracking but he never froze like he does when speaking a language.

And if Josh is nervous of speaking in front of others, he's terrified of speaking in front of Tyler.

He knows Tyler would never say anything to hurt his feelings; he just isn't that kind of guy. But Josh knows he's an amateur when it comes to his speaking, never mind his routine practice.

He just doesn't want to embarrass himself in front of Tyler. He couldn't bare for his best friend to find him inadequate with his bad pronunciation and nervous pauses.

So Josh keeps it to himself.

He’s still self-conscious all the way to the airport and the entirety the long plane ride but as soon as they land in Tokyo, his previous excitement returns in full.

It's brighter than Times Square, much more exciting too.

Josh drags them to a restaurant near the airport that he may have been researching for the past few weeks.

The pictures of noodles and sushi and cake desserts on the inside pages of the menu look delicious and they're giddy with excitement and laughter most likely due to the bright lights and their lack of sleep. 

The waiter comes to the table.

Josh wants to order in Japanese.

He doesn’t.

He finds himself balling his fists atop his thighs under the tables and biting the inside of his cheek, his heart hammering in his chest as he murmurs stuttered English in the most embarrassing way.

Everyone is too tired to notice how much more quiet he is during dinner.

They go to the hotel that night exhausted.

Tyler is out the minute he lays down but it takes Josh a little while longer to fall asleep as he’s stuck beating himself up internally for being too anxious to say anything and how if he keeps it up like this, he’ll waste his whole trip here.

They go to the venue the next day to set up their equipment and practice a little bit. It’s a pretty impressive place and the acoustics are great.

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom,” Tyler says after a whole three hours of tweaking the sound on the monitors.

He places his ukelele on the ground and disappears backstage, leaving Josh in the midst of the Japanese crew.

He sits silently behind his drums for a few minutes but then his heart is speeding up again and he's looking all around him. 

This is his chance, he knows it. But he's choking again, all ready stuttering and getting too worked up to remember what he's learned. 

“ _Ko- Konnichiwa_ ,” he whispers to no one in particular.

Most of the crew passes by him hurriedly as they have jobs to do but he actually manages catch the attention of one of the crew members.

The man in tattered jeans and a band t-shirt to his left gives him a genuine smile and a thumbs up.

Josh smiles too, as nervous as he is hopeful.

“ _W- Watashi no namae wa Josh desu. O namae wa nan desu ka?_ ”

The man looks pleasantly surprised but takes a break from taping a wire to the floor to stand and answer him.

“ _Haruko desu. Dochira kara desu ka?_ ”

Of course Haruko all ready knows the answer to his proposed question but he’s smiling as he asks it and he's made sure to speak somewhat slowly.

Josh lights up as he actually understands.

“ _Amerika kara desu_ ,” Josh says to who he hopes is his new friend.

Tyler comes back from the bathroom then. Josh doesn't say anything more. Haruko resumes his taping. 

Josh can’t stop smiling as he bangs away at his drums, filling the whole venue with the sound.

Before they leave to go out to dinner, Josh finds enough time to converse quickly with Haruko again in the dressing room.

Josh makes plenty of mistakes but he's also learning a lot in the full immersion he finds himself in. He’s not nearly as nervous as he was when he first arrived as he converses and even laughs with Haruko.

 _“Tomodachi ni narimasen ka?”_ Josh asks the crew member when he hears Tyler calling for him down the hall on the way to the car.

Haruko smiles, laughs, nods genuinely.

Josh hugs him before leaving down the hall.

“What were you doing in there?"

Tyler's gaze is focused on his phone screen where a wild Jigglypuff refuses to be caught.

“Lotta Pokemon around here?” Josh asks, trying to change the subject.

“Dude, so many.”

Josh laughs, throws an arm around his friend and leads him to the car. 

Dinner is better this time around.

Josh doesn’t order in Japanese but it’s fine because he feels like he got in a lot of speaking today anyway.

“Isn't that weird though?” Tyler says as Josh brings up the concept of capsule hotels over dessert. “Wouldn't it feel like you were sleeping in a coffin?”

“They're more spacious than you think.”

He goes on about how some have TVs inside each small capsule, along with a radio and headphones and plenty of room. Plus, they're really cheap.

“Let’s stay in one tonight.”

“Really?!” Josh says, nearly choking on the piece of food in his mouth in his excitement.

“Yeah," Tyler says with a smile. "It’ll be fun.”

Mark and the rest of the crew do not, in fact, want to spend the night in capsules so they stay at the hotel while Josh and Tyler leave in the direction of a smaller hotel loaded up on Josh’s phone.

The place is clean, cool, very quiet.

It even has a foot spa on the fourth floor, which they take total advantage of.

Their pods are right next to each other, Josh's atop Tyler's.

"Just like the tour bus," Tyler laughs.

"Yeah, I guess so," Josh chuckles.

Once they're in their complimentary pajamas, they take plenty of pictures outside and inside their respective capsules, making jokes and being silly as quietly as possible considering it's all ready midnight.

Tyler yawns deeply, the excitement of the day and the big dinner he had finally catching up with him. He stretches, shuffles closer to his pod.

“Night, Josh.”

“ _Oyasumi_ ,” Josh says as he steps up the small ladder on the way to his bed.

“Hm?”

It takes a moment for Josh to realize what he’s said but once he does, his palms are sweating and the tips of his ears are burning.

“Oh. Um. _Oyasumi_. That's how you say goodnight in Japanese.”

Tyler nods sleepily. “Cool. _Oyasumi_ , Josh.”

Josh crawls into his capsule, closes the screen and promptly stares at the wall, his heart hammering in his chest.

The next morning, Tyler looks terrible.

He sounds worse.

“Josh…”

“What's wrong?”

He points at his throat and when he opens his mouth, Josh can see bright red patches scattered against the back wall of his throat.

“You need a doctor, Tyler,” Josh says seriously. “Jesus, are you even gonna be able to sing?”

Tyler reaches into his pocket and retrieves his phone. He types a quick note and holds it out to Josh.

_'Mark will make an appointment for me. We need to get back to the hotel so he can sort it out.'_

“Mark?” Josh says. “He's at the venue all day today. He's not gonna be back for another seven hours. We need to get you treated right now.”

They leave the hotel as soon as they're dressed and hurry to a clinic down the street.

Josh thanks God that it welcomes walk-ins.

Inside, most everything is in Japanese. Only the brochures by the door are in English and that's just because they're advertising touristy things to do around the city.

Tyler looks around, confused and maybe a little worried that he's unable now to communicate on a whole other level.

He opens his mouth to presumedly try to speak his concerns but Josh is all ready speaking to the woman at the front counter.

_“Sumimasen- yoyaku shitain desu ga.”_

The woman looks as shocked as Tyler is but she hands over a few forms while Tyler stares wide-eyed at Josh’s profile.

The drummer is too preoccupied with filling out whatever he can decipher and then hands it back with a few more spoken sentences of which ends in a grateful smile, a few frantic bows and the words, “ _Hai, hai, arigatou, arigatou gozaimasu._ ”

Josh leads Tyler down the hall after a woman in scrubs, a hand placed protectively on his lower back.

The nurse ushers them into a room and says something that Tyler doesn't understand but Josh does because he's bowing again from where he stands next to where Tyler is sitting on the end the examining table.

As soon the door shuts, Tyler is turning to Josh, a hand on the other man’s chest pulling his attention to him.

‘ _What!?_ ’ Tyler mouths silently with raised eyebrows.

Josh just smiles shyly and looks to the ground.

Tyler pats his chest firmly, seemingly desperate for an actual explanation.

“I've been, uh, learning,” Josh murmurs. "For a while.”

Tyler shakes his head minutely, mouths, ' _How? When_?’

“I've been teaching myself through online resources for the past six months whenever I have the time. It's not a big deal.”

Josh jumps when the heels of Tyler’s feet bang against the side of the table.

“Dude-”

He's cut off by Tyler’s soft, yet incredibly impressed, expression. He's smiling warmly even though he looks like he feels like shit.

“What?” Josh mutters, still nervous.

 _Amazing_ , Tyler mouths. _You're so amazing._

Josh blushes as picks at his fingernails.

“I'm trying my best, Ty.”

Tyler reaches out to hold his hand just as the doctor comes in.

She exchanges a few greetings with Josh, who answers back easily. She takes Tyler’s temperature, listens to his heart and lungs, all the while speaking with Josh in search of symptoms, of which the drummer tries his best to explain when he forgets the specific word for said symptom.

Josh can feel Tyler’s amazed gaze on him the entire time he speaks about how Tyler was fine all yesterday but only woke up this morning feeling bad.

The doctor poses a quick question. Josh quickly translates.

“Do you have a headache?”

Tyler nods.

“ _Hai_ ,” Josh answers the doctor, his hand still intertwined with Tyler’s.

“She's gonna touch your throat now, okay?” Josh relays just as the doctor traces her fingers up and down either side of his Adam's apple.

They await the verdict, but Josh gets it first.

The doctor disposes of her rubber gloves as she explains the diagnosis. Josh breathes a sigh of relief and then he's bowing all over again and muttering a collection of thank you’s as she shuts the door.

“It’s not that serious,” Josh says as he turns to Tyler. “She advises that you stay hydrated and that you rest your voice for as long as you can if you wanna sing in a few days. She wrote you a script for antibiotics so I'll go pick those up while you rest back at the hotel. Okay?”

 _Wow_.

That's all Tyler can manage. He's too sick and too shocked to genuinely express how amazed and proud of Josh he is.

“Cmon, it's fine."

Tyler just smiles, touches Josh’s chin to pull his attention back to him.

 _Fine_? he mouths. _More than fine, dude. Amazing. Honestly kinda hot_.

Tyler actually winks.

“Shut up,” Josh laughs but his ears go warm with the thought.

Maybe speaking Japanese in front of Tyler won’t be all that bad.


End file.
